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Aaaaand we're working the weekend
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They should also back out any hours they claim are mandatory training hours (like time spent at DU where they require you to be focused on training). The logic is so flawed. They ask you to tell project leads you're unavailable for client work but then don't back that time out of your annual target.
Guys - it's dollars and cents. The firm has goals. If they took holidays into account for utilization they would just raise the utilization targets. I thought analysts were supposed to be good at math?
The whole calculation is BS
Agree 100%
We are evaluated against each other. The calculation is the same for all of us. THIS DOES NOT MATTER.
Just because it's used universally doesn't make it less stupid.
Nobody here is going to disagree with you...unless they are part of the management team who gets to dip into the portion of the bonus pool we all lose out on for missing utilization targets.
D4 It does to an extent. It deceptively gives the firm an excuse to say we're hitting goals vs. exceeding them
Hey M1- thanks for your insightful contribution. You know how things change? People talking about what bothers them and comparing standards in the marketplace. Also, know who are fucking up D's util #s the most this year? Managers. So step down.
M1, you're right, just because you got through it, and even acknowledge it was bad, we should never try to improve things for those younger than ourselves. What awesome leadership qualities you're exhibiting.
If people are truly expected to take time off on firm holidays, why make the expectation include holidays? Seems like we should be working off an assumption of total *possible* bill days/ hours (e.g. 248 bill days instead of 260). Makes our % targets so deceptive.
Billing 45hours a week, the math works to still take PTO and training. It keeps you motivated to not sit on the bench and own your career and finding the next opportunity.
A lot of the assumptions here are also based on 45 billable. Many projects only allow 40
D3- you're missing the point. The messaging is inherently deceptive. Say you're an SC and you're told your target is 87% or 1800 hours. In reality, since you're measured at 2,080 hours, your target % is actually about 91%. By not factoring in holidays, you're inadvertently telling people that time off actually doesn't matter. I'd be curious what targets are for firms by level who do factor in time off. I'd be willing to bet they are not as commensurately high as Ds are.
@D2 for tech c's it's 95% 😖
Lol D4 so naive. No, util metrics are not measured against your peer group, I guarantee you if you don't hit your target this year, you will not get promo'd, even if most of your peer group does not make target.
Utilization = Revenue
All that really matters is what you generate
OP is totally wrong. I didn't hit utilization goal last year, got a 1 and was promoted.
Please correct me if I'm wrong, but at 25 PTO days and 12 holidays, if you bill 9 hours a day on all other working days, that leaves you with just a 15 day cushion to hit 90%. Now throw in 3-5 days of training at DU and you're at 10-12 days of cushion before you miss the 90% target. So if you experience a 2 week (10 working day) haul on the bench early in the year, you HAVE to sacrifice your PTO to have any chance of hitting your 90% target unless you get on a project that allows you to book +9 hrs a day to make up the deficit.
Agreed. Deloitte US has worse policies in this regard than other member firms. Australia doesn't count PTO against utilization, and the U.K. has more reasonable targets.